Posts tagged ‘Paul Dini’

Hush stars in Detective 852 (March 2009), as the villains take over the various books this month, as part of Faces of Evil. The story, by Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs, is also part of Last Rites, stories set in the immediate aftermath of Batman’s apparent death.

Hush emerged from the river, after escaping the Whirly-Bat crash in the cave, and was immediately mistaken for Bruce Wayne. This proved to be a great advantage in getting helped out by everyone he encountered, all hoping to make a good impression on the billionaire.

Tommy heads to an exclusive club, and allows himself to be picked up by an older socialite, who he knew through her plastic surgeries.

She is delighted to be spending time with Bruce Wayne, and they head to her yacht in the Caribbean. Hush promptly murders her, and sails to Australia.

He heads to a Wayne facility there, and passes as the big boss, taking out a giant wad of cash from the company to support himself. He runs into Tasmanian Devil on the street, but tries to avoid him, unsure if the former Justice Leaguer is aware of Batman’s identity.

Playing it safe, Tommy leaves Australia and heads to VietNam. But that proves to be a bad decision, as he winds up in the hands of Catwoman.

Heart of Hush comes to an end in Detective 850 (Jan. 09), as does Batman RIP, and the runs of Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs, and even Batman.

Having left Batman at the hospital, Hush heads to Wayne Manor, pretending to be Bruce Wayne. It doesn’t work, though Alfred cannot take credit for observation and deduction. Bruce phoned him and told him Tommy had a new face, and that he was on the way there. I kind of wish Alfred had figured it out on his own, picked up on some detail that proved it was not Bruce.

But Hush bests the butler, and makes it down into the Batcave. They have a lot of fun with this scene, showing old Batmobiles, including the one from the tv show, and the Whirly-Bats, not seen since the 60s.

As Hush waits for the heroes to show up and fight him, he has another flashback. This shows the murder of his mother, and Peyton Riley’s aid in covering it up. Although Peyton believed that, with his mother dead, they would be free to marry, in reality Tommy flew off to Europe, threatening to kill her if she ever revealed the truth. Poor Peyton, things were crappy long even before her arranged marriage.

Batman does finally get to the cave, as do Nightwing and Robin. And Hush gets chased by the giant dinosaur. It’s always a great story when the dinosaur gets used.

Even better is the way Batman defeats Hush, using the Whirly-Bat. It catches his bandages, and carries him away. It crashes and explodes near the underground river, and Batman knows Tommy will have survived somehow.

Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr Terrific perform the surgery on Catwoman, and successfully replace her heart.

Selina gets a scene with Zatanna. Near-death, or dream, or magic, it’s never clear. Nor should it be.

Bruce comes to see Selina in recovery, and openly admits his love for her, and how much she means to him.

But Batman and Catwoman are only together for a couple of panels, and then the story jumps ahead, to after Batman’s apparent death. Catwoman is living on a beach, and sends a tape out to Hush. We learn that she has used all her influence, and her friends, to loot Tommy Elliot’s finances, ruin his hideouts, and make him poison to be associated with. Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Slam Bradley are shown helping with this.

The story does have a sequel, a couple months down the road, as Catwoman confronts Hush, but that is detailed in the pages of Batman.

And even though it would be a couple of years before Bruce Wayne returned to these pages, and Batman was once again the star of the book, Detective Comics remained firmly in the Batman family of books.

Dini, Nguyen and Fridolfs move Heart of Hush closer to its conclusion in Detective 849 (Dec. 08), another part of the Batman RIP storyline.

Batman brings Johnathan Crane back to Arkham and tortures him to get Hush’s location. The Joker is quite entertained by the show, and has high praise for Batman’s skill at tormenting the Scarecrow.

Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific tend to Selina, but both of them are mystified at the tech Hush used to remove Catwoman’s heart without killing her.

In flashback, we see Tommy Elliot and Peyton Riley dating, both unhappy with their parents and their lives.

Batman confronts Hush at the hospital, the same one his mother had died at. He proudly shows Batman Selina’s heart. He made a deal with Mr. Freeze, who provided the tech for the operation, and to maintain the heart.

Batman had started the scene fighting Hush, and it was odd when he just sort of stopped, and they began conversing. In fact, this was not weak writing, but a hint that Hush was gassing Batman, who winds up collapsing, as Hush unveils his new face – Bruce Wayne’s face.

Batman RIP continues in Detective 848 (Nov. 08), the third chapter in Heart of Hush, by Dini, Nguyen and Fridolfs.

Hush confronts Catwoman, with a knife. Not good news for Selina.

Meanwhile, Batman, on the track of the kidnapped child, finds him, and Crane as well. The Scarecrow has hooked the boy up to a device that injects him with Venom when he gets scared, turning the child into a rampaging monster.

The story pauses to give us a glimpse of Tommy Elliot as he approaches manhood, but stuck under the thumb of his controlling mother. He is at a party with Bruce Wayne, and meets Peyton Riley.

The Venom-ed up boy finds the Scarecrow more of a threat than Batman. After all, which one has been torturing him? The boy winds up taking down Scarecrow, and Batman unhooks him from the Venom.

It doesn’t really matter. The Scarecrow achieved his goal of distracting Batman for long enough that Hush had time to operate on Catwoman. Batman gets an urgent call from Oracle, letting him know Selina is in the hospital. Hush has removed her heart.

Dini, Nguyen and Fridolfs continue Heart of Hush in Detective 847 (Oct. 08), as part of Batman RIP.

We discover that, as a teen, Tommy Elliot was sent to a psychiatrist, a young intern named Jonathan Crane, who helped him come to grips with fear.

Knowing the Hush is back, and uncertain of his plans, Batman seeks out Robin and Nightwing to warn them, and finds them taking down a smaller version of the Wonderland Gang. Tweedledee and Tweedledum have only the Walrus and the Carpenter working for them this time.

Zatanna is hanging out in front of the theatre she is performing in, running a three card monte game. Which strikes me as kind of odd, but ok. Selina confronts her there, but Zatanna tells her that she was rebuffed by Bruce, and that if Catwoman wants him, she should make her play.

Hush sends his drugged slaves to kidnap a young boy, hospitalized due to his intense fears, and turns him over to the Scarecrow. Tutor and pupil, as Hush terms his relationship with Crane.

Dini, Nguyen and Fridolfs launch the five part Heart of Hush storyline in Detective 846 (Sept. 08). This is part of Batman RIP, which is not a storyline so much as the grab bag title for the final storylines of the Bat-books before the character’s apparent death in Final Crisis.

Catwoman joins Batman as they pursue a villain called Mr Aesop, because he quotes Aesop’s Fables during his crimes. He has stolen a lion, and planning to sell it to be hunted and killed, which is why Catwoman cares about the case.

Hush has returned to Gotham City, and is keeping a watch on Batman and Catwoman. This storyline gives a lot more of the background of Tommy Elliot, and how he became Hush, although this issue just recaps territory covered in his first storyline: how he arranged a car accident to kill his parents. His mother survived, horribly crippled, and Tommy had to tend to her as he grew. Now, back in Gotham, he has taken over an abandoned hospital, and has been rounding up and drugging the homeless, making them his servants.

There is some good action with the heroes and the lion, and they almost capture Mr Aesop.

Hush steps in, killing the thief, and making his presence known to Batman. He wants to kill Batman himself, and will protect him from anyone else who intends to.

There appears to be a new serial killer in town, after a number of apparently random murders. Batman is on the case, and so is the Riddler, who proclaims publicly that he will bring the killer in.

Batman has a brief scene with Catwoman. This follows her return to Earth after events in Salvation Run, and her own comic. He tries to enlist her help against the serial killer, but she is more interested in finding out about his romances with Zatanna and Jezebel Jet (who has been appearing in the pages of Batman). She dramatically takes off, and Batman knows she wants him to follow her. But tonight he has other concerns.

Not a great appearance for Catwoman, frankly. She comes off as jealous and childish.

But the scene is followed by a really wonderful one, as Batman goes on the net and discusses the case with others. Although the various people talking have no idea who the others are, we see that the conversation includes Bruce, the Riddler, Oracle and Detective Chimp.

The solution is actually quite sad. It was all a trap for the Riddler, laid by the widower of one of his victims. The first victim had been his psychiatrist, who could have informed the police. The rest were random, with clues designed to draw the Riddler to where he could be killed. Batman intervenes, but has more sympathy for the killer than for the Riddler.